setting the scene
your family, friends, and co-workers send you several articles a week from various news publications 📰
since you don't subscribe to every online news source, you're often met with the message: "subscribe to access the rest of this article" 🔒
your options are to pay for all these publications or pretend to have read the daily articles from your mom and boss 😳
this week's company provides a tool to access premium articles without subscribing to a dozen publications ✔️
in a sentence
Zette offers consumers access to paywalled news articles through a single paid account
access: users download a browser extension that pops up when a paywall shows up
paywalled: a feature used by news sites that limits access to paying customers
account: users pay a monthly subscription for access to 30 paywalled articles each month
bulleted version: think of Zette as an all-you-can-eat news buffet; for a monthly subscription, you can fill your plate with articles from Forbes, Miami Herald, and any other publication you fancy 🍽
the basics
industry: media tech, news and entertainment, browser extension, software
headquarters: San Francisco, CA 🌁
year founded: 2020
company size: <10 employees 💼
amount raised: $1.7m post pre-seed funding
business model: b2c; rev share with newsrooms
sponsored by
due diligence
what we like
📈 a gap in the market: companies implement paywalls in hopes of converting readers to paying customers, but conversion rates have historically been low
Zette adds an alternative revenue source and customer touchpoint for players in the growing $35b digital news market
🌎 well-rounded perspective: Zette encourages readers to sample credible articles from a variety of news sources, attacking misinformation and promoting quality news
🏙 consolidated clients: with frequent consolidation in the media market, Zette can offer customers hundreds of publications with the right few partners
for example, Zette closed a deal with McClatchy, an owner of 30+ newspapers
potential risks
🤝 publisher-reliant: Zette must continue to close deals with publishing companies to keep users on the platform and cater to a wide audience
💻 desktop-first: mobile devices have become the preferred way to consume news
Zette plans to roll out a mobile app soon, but will launching only with a desktop product cause them to miss out on early customers?
🤳 the rise of modern media: the creator economy has introduced new ways to consume reliable news; will Zette include paid newsletters and video channels in its news offerings?
weekly cartoon
founder profiles
Yehong Zhu (CEO; also angel investor; prev. @ Twitter, Forbes)
comps
why Zette: Zette is already making headlines with over 80 publication partners and a 6k-person waitlist growing 25% month-over-month 🚀